An izakaya is an informal Japanese establishment, neither quite restaurant nor tavern, that treats eating as fortification for drinking. But Dai Watanabe, the chef here, is not content to be an accompanist. The mission may be comfort food, but there’s a reverence to its making, even in the minor dishes. Complete Review »

The specialty here is patacón, the formidable sandwich of the city of Maracaibo, Venezuela, bookended not by bread but by unripe plantains that have been fried, smashed and fried again. The small but sleek storefront traces its origins back to 2005, when Liliana Velazquez, a native of Maracaibo, started selling patacónes out of a truck in Inwood, ManhattanComplete Review »